Cinespace Film Studios Signs Netflix Deal And Expands into Canada

Cinespace Film Studios (Cinespace) today announced the signing of a multi-year lease with Netflix to expand its film and television production presence inside Marine Terminal 51 and the Cruise Ship Terminal, owned by PortsToronto and under long-term lease to Cinespace. The news comes the morning Netflix announced the creation of its Toronto production hub, expanding its production presence in Canada.

“The Cinespace family is very pleased to have Netflix committed to our newest downtown film studio campus,” said Steve Mirkopoulos, President and CEO of Cinespace. “These new facilities – to be open and operational by the summer of 2019 – will feature 164,000 square feet of new production space, giving Netflix an ideal location to centralize their production of top content and to catalyze job creation inside Toronto’s strategically important downtown Studio District. We thank City of Toronto Mayor John Tory and PortsToronto CEO Geoffrey Wilson for facilitating this tremendous achievement.”

Netflix’s new production hub in Toronto will take advantage of the area’s globally-renowned and award-winning film production infrastructure, which includes deep pools of creative talent, technicians, suppliers and filming locations. Toronto’s overall film and television production volumes have reached $2 billion in recent years and have resulted in tens of thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly.

In addition to Toronto’s Netflix activity, Northern Ontario has also benefited from several Netflix productions, demonstrating that film and television volumes rely on Ontario’s overall competitiveness as a film jurisdiction. “Without Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s critical ‘Open for Business’ approach and without Finance Minister Vic Fedeli’s strong statements of stability for our sector, there would simply not be a Netflix production hub, or any repeat production volumes to speak of. Our provincial leaders are our strongest partners and advocates,” said Jim Mirkopoulos, Vice President, Cinespace.

“Early in our mandate, we met with key stakeholders in this industry to reinforce our commitment to a steady, predictable business environment for them.”, stated Premier Ford. “We welcome Netflix to Toronto, and we look forward to continued growth in this dynamic sector.” Finance Minister Fedeli added, “Supported by the Province of Ontario, this multi-billion dollar industry full of world-class creative talent and storytellers and highly-skilled production workers is making significant and growing contributions to Ontario’s economy and quality of life. Our government is committed to providing stability and support to ensure this key cultural industry can compete and remain the best in Canada, and one of the best in the world.”

For Mayor Tory, the creation of a Netflix production hub in Toronto is a major milestone in his years of lobbying the Hollywood studios and digital platforms to send more business to Toronto, as well as his continuous urging of City agencies to audit their inventories for large sites that could be leased to the film industry. “I am thrilled with the news that PortsToronto and Toronto’s studio veterans – Cinespace – will host Netflix’s expanded production presence in Toronto,” said Mayor Tory. “Our talented people will now be even more prominent both in front of, and behind the camera, Toronto’s unmatched diversity of locations will be streamed even more regularly around the world, and the powerful economic impact of this new investment will spill over into every corner of our City for years to come.”